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Austin White third at Southwest Wrestling Invitational tourney

By Alan Carman

The Imperial Republican

The wrestlers for Chase County saw their last action before districts at the Southwest Invite Saturday. And looking to districts this week, Coach Matt Vlasin was optimistic about his team’s chances to qualify for the state tourney. Vlasin said if his team shows up at Hershey and has a couple of breaks go their way, Chase County should be represented at the state tournament next week. Austin White had a very good day in Bartley. White’s only loss came to the eventual 145 pound champion Dayton Dreher of Oberlin, Kan. Dreher is ranked in the top three in the Kansas. White stuck with Dreher for the first two periods but ended up on the short end of the 17-7 decision in the semi-finals. White bounced back with two more wins in the consolation bracket to secure a third place finish. Khris Kuhlmann had one of his best days wrestling. After losing his opening match to Bryson Wesley of Oberlin, Kuhlmann stormed through the consolation bracket, pinning his next two opponents in a combined 1:51. Unfortunately, this set up a rematch with Wesley of Oberlin. Much the same as the first match, Wesley secured a pin in 3:40 to end Kuhlmann’s day, one match short of a medal. Adam Burpo reached the semi-finals before being beaten by the 113 pound champ 1-10. Burpo fell in his next match to Alan Hammer of Southwest, knocking him out of the tourney. In the 132 pound weight class, Hunter Dillan couldn’t seem to find his rhythm, losing two straight matches to end his day early.Team scores Oberlin 139.5, Southern Valley 122, Southwest 108, Hershey 105, Auburn 104, Franklin 99, Medicine Valley 81.5, Cambridge 72, Dundy County-Stratton 69, North Platte JV 38.5, Hitchcock County 38, Chase County 32, Red Cloud/Blue Hill 28, McCook JV 24, Garden County 23, Creek Valley 20 and Wauneta-Palisade 4.Individual results 113: Adam Burpo bye, pinned Jesse Evans (DC/S) 6:16, major decisioned by Zack Wright (HC) 1-10, pinned by Alan Hammer (SW) 1:45. 132: Hunter Dillan bye, lost by tech fall to Thomas Foster (MV) 15-0, pinned by Coleton Doetker (HC) 2:33. 145: Austin White pinned Devon Strunkmartin (HC) 1:03, pinned Griffon York (SV) 3:41, major decisioned by Dayton Dreher (OB) 7-17, major decisioned Austin Minard (SW) 12-4, pinned Drew Smith (NPJV) 3:23 for third place. 160: Khris Kuhlmann pinned by Bryson Wesley (OB) 3:54, bye, pinned Gage Crowell (W/P) 1:26, pinned Marcus Fox (DC-S) 0:25, pinned by Bryson Wesley (OB) 3:40.

Next action districts This season district wrestling will be held in Hershey starting this Friday at 3 p.m. CT in the high school gym. Wrestling will resume Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. CT, with the finals scheduled for 1:30 p.m CT. Admission on Friday is $5 for adults and $4 for students. Saturday is adults $8 and students $6 for all day or adults $5 and students $4 for the finals only. Teams participating in the C-4 District include Ainsworth, Bayard, Bridgeport, Chase County, Gordon-Rushville, Hershey, Kearney Catholic, Kimball, Loomis/Bertrand, Minden, Mitchell, Ord, Ravenna, Sargent/Burwell, Southern Valley and Valentine. The state wrestling tournament begins next Thursday, Feb. 20, in Omaha.